A love triangle with a twist
by Airn
Summary: Yes, a love triangle with a twist. Ron and Harry fight over Hermione. But surprisingly, she falls for neither. Instead, she goes for the person she least expected... Rated T because of swear words used in the story. Read and review please!
1. Chapter 1

Socks, books, papers and other such whatnot flew behind a most agitated Hermione at a most terrific pace as she continued on her quest for her elusive purse. The Grangers were due to leave for the train station quite soon and she'd had yet to finish packing. Yesterday had been a most busy day, with preparations to return to Hogwarts and the 'farewell dinner'. There'd just been so little time to pack. Her trunk lay open at the base of her bed, her belongings hastily thrown in. Crookshanks was situated on the mattress, finding Hermione's checklist a most wonderful spot to plant his bottom on, and was watching his mistress scurry around the room like a busy little mouse.

"MOM! Did you see my purse?" The girl yelled, driven near the brink of hysteria and frustration.

She was slapping her head repeatedly, in a vain attempt to get herself to remember when she'd last seen her purse. Hermione turned, surveying her bedroom for the hundredth time. The mess she beheld would have sent Hermione insane, what with her intense need for order and tidiness and all, but loss of sanity was currently overridden by her determination to find her accursed purse. Books and papers were strewn about the room. Mount Fijis made of clothes were situated at several spots on her bedroom floor. It seemed that she'd looked absolutely everywhere but the purse simply wouldn't let itself be found.

"It should be somewhere on your desk, dear!" came the slightly muffled reply from Hermione's mother, who was somewhere down in the kitchen.

Hermione immediately strode over to her desk, heedless of her things on the ground and shoved aside even more books and papers on her desk. With a triumphant shout, Hermione snatched her purse, which had been wedged between two particularly large volumes on spells, and did a little victory jig around her room, waving the purse about like a trophy. Hurrying around the room, Hermione searched for the other things that were to be brought with her to Hogwarts and throwing everything she found into her trunk, occasionally glancing at her checklist and ticking off items with a pen that was tucked behind her ear.

Bending down, she started to pick up the clothes which she had thrown to the floor, cursing herself in a most colourful and unlady-like manner for throwing them to the ground instead of into her trunk which would have saved her the trouble she was going through now to get her clothes. Straightening, she suddenly caught sight of herself in the mirror and she had to blink and actually remember that it was her and not her eyes playing tricks on her. Until now, it never failed to amaze Hermione that she'd changed so much over the holidays. Looking back at her was a young lady with thick, wavy brown hair. Apparently, her wayward tresses had decided to take pity on Hermione and her despair with her bushy mane of hair and straightened themselves a little. Now, they fell in rolling waves past her shoulders, some locks curlier than others. The young lady in the mirror was also quite tall and slender. Indeed, Hermione had changed drastically over the summer. No longer was she the short and bushy hair girl other girls usually looked down upon and boys made fun of. Nope. Having filled out in the right places, she had changed to become a beautiful young lady who seemed to be quite attractive to both the boys in the muggle and wizarding world, if the number of stares she got were any indication. Shaking her head and scolding herself for getting distracted, she tore her eyes from her reflection and continued her packing.

Many minutes later, Hermione lugged her trunk downstairs; cringing every time her trunk made it down to the next step with a crash that shook the stairs and the banister. She wrestled with the heavy thing all the way out of the Granger house and into the boot of her father's waiting car. Her muscles trembling and aching, Hermione sank down with a great sense of relief into the backseat of the car, beside her a sleeping Crookshanks in his cage. Hermione was immensely grateful that the feline had decided to nap instead of creating chaos. With her muscles already screaming their protest when she opened the car door, she didn't think she could handle Crookshanks if he'd thrown a hissy fit.

"Alrighty then, leeeeets go!" Her father said, diving into the driver's seat and belting himself in.

His wife made a more dignified way into the car by sliding her way in gracefully and closing the door slowly instead of with a loud bang. Gravel crunching beneath the wheels of the car, the Grangers pulled away from their home and onto the road. Pressing her cheek to the window, Hermione took a long look at the house as they drove away. A look that will be her last for several months. Oh, how she would miss the house and her parents in the months she had to stay at Hogwarts. But Hermione counted herself lucky that she was given the opportunity to study in Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry. Not to mention that she had two of the best friends she could ever have studying with her in Hogwarts. At the thought of Harry and Ron, Hermione grinned and immediately cheered up, her excitement of seeing them for the first time in months overtaking her sadness at leaving her home. Sure, she'd written to them and all, but it just wasn't the same as being together with them in the flesh. Turning in her seat, Hermione faced the front of the car and the road ahead, feeling prepared for her sixth year at Hogwarts and whatever was to come her way.

The family rode to the station in a comfortable silence Finally,the sounds of her father pulling the brake and the doors opening broke the quite. They'd arrived at Kingcross station. The noise of the people rushing by greeted the ears of the Grangers as they got out of the car. People of all shapes and sizes rushed past. Noisy trolley wheels squeaked and groaned. Children wailed, competing with the train whistle in volume. Together, they took out her trunk and Crookshanks before putting them into a trolley. Carefully wending her way through the crowd and apologising profusely every time her trolley hit a person( or rather, a person hit her trolley and made it look like her fault), Hermione finally wheeled her items to the front of the barrier to platform 9 ¾. Turning to her parents, she gave them each a kiss and a big hug goodbye. Turning to face the seemingly solid brick wall, she gave them a final wave and smile before gripping the handle of her trolley firmly and running through the wall.

Once through the barrier, Hermione immediately pulled her trolley to a stop, lest she maul anybody on the other side. Fortunately, all the witches and wizards were gifted with brains in addition to their magic and had the sense not to stand too close to the entrance to platform 9 ¾. Standing on tiptoes to better look around, she searched for her two best friends, Harry and Ron. But all she could see was a mass of excited students, all chattering away with friends in excitement if the term to come, and tiny, terrified looking first-years. Sighing, she decided that it was probably wiser to get into the train and wait for them there. After taking care of her trunk, Hermione settled down into the seat beside the window and let Crookshanks out of his cage. He purred in appreciation and leapt onto Hermione's lap, curling up immediately to continue his cat nap. Suddenly, she heard the compartment door slide open with a whoosh and a familiar voice.

"Hello Miss, are these seats taken?"

Hermione's head snapped towards the door and to her delight, there stood Ron and Harry, both grinning at her. They too had changed over the summer. They grew taller and took on a slightly muscular build. Their voice had also deepened(the process being most amusing to Hermione). Other than that, everything about them was the same, as it had been for the past few years. Harry's hair was still a mess, sticking out everywhere and refusing to be tamed. How girls found that alluring was beyond Hermione. Even the frames of his glasses were the same simple round structure. Ron had the few freckles scattered on his face and the same famous, fiery red Weasley hair. Hermione jumped up and swooped down on them, greeting the two with a tight hug. Both boys commented on how pretty she was, earning a blush from Hermione. Flustered, she smiled shyly and thanked them. The Golden Trio then proceeded to sit down and make themselves comfortable. They shared their summer experiences with each other, as they always did on the train ride to Hogwarts. Harry, as usual, didn't have a very good time with the Dursleys. His situation there had not improved at all. He still lived in the same gloomy room, endured the chores he was forced to do and put up with that constantly purple Uncle of his. Ron didn't do much except trying to get rid of the gnomes in his backyard and brushing up on his Keeper skills. His confidence had gone up considerably, credit going to Harry and Hermione. Now the Weasley keeper managed to save an impressive number of quaffles in quidditch matches, thus forcing the Slytherins to eat back their criticism on Ron's abilities as Keeper. Hermione got have a more interesting summer. She'd spent her holidays with her parents in the city of Paris. Days went by with numerous shopping sprees, dazzling French people and excellent food. She had even managed to catch a glimse of the famous Beauxbatons Academy.

They were in the middle of reliving a memory when the grandmotherly Trolley Lady interrupted them, her trolley full of candies beckoning to all three of them. Minutes later and their purses considerably lighter, they continued with their story while munching on their candy.

Suddenly Ron said, "Hold on, don't you think something's a bit off today? Malfoy show his pointy face today, smirk at us and throw lame, sissy, petty, lame, stupid, lame insults at us."

Ignoring the fact that their friend had used 'lame' thrice in the same sentence, the other two nodded their agreement. None of them had seen Malfoy all day.

"Maybe he got killed by a wild hippogriff," Harry suggested, grinning with a mouthful of candy, a dreamy and faraway look in his bottle green eyes.

Ron and Hermione laughed, that it did happen, though they knew that it would be too good to be true. They've started to accept the fact that Malfoy would be there for quite some time to stick his annoying nose in their faces. But they appreciated the fact that they had the ability to punch that same nose away from their faces. Inevitably, the conversation topic fell onto quidditch and Hermione willingly got out of it, leaving Harry and Ron to discuss their strategies and whatever. Hermione merely took out her textbook and started reading, having foreseen this and equipped herself with a book to combat boredom. And before the trio knew it, Hogwarts was just a few minutes away, forcing them to hurry into their robes and prepare their things.

The train slowed to a stop at the Hoogwart's platform. First years cautiously stepped down from the train in a big group, unsure of what to do and frankly, just terrified out of their pointy hats. The rest of the students filed out of the train, excited anew of their new year to come at Hogwarts. Hermione, Harry and Ron battled their way through the throng, heading in the direction of their, Hagrid, who was quite easy to spot as he stuck out like a sore thumb. As he was half giant, he was naturally taller than the rest of the crowd, like a large boulder amongst pebbles.

He looked down at them from his great height, his voice loud and friendly, "'ello ye three, 'ope ye 'ad a good summer. Ye three better get going, won't want ter be late"

With that, he lumbered off and proceeded to herd the first years to the great lake. The trio made their way to the horseless carriages, once again battling their way past the other students. They met their fellow Gryffindors along the way and some Hufflepuffs ,Ravenclaws and much to their disgust, Slytherins. The trip to the castle was short, and surprisingly soon, they found themselves seated in the Great Hall where they awaited for the sorting hat's song and the sorting of the new students. Professor McGonagall marched in, the first years following closely behind her. Some were dripping wet and trembling with cold. The Black Lake never failed to capture a few students every year.

Ron, who was easily the tallest in Gryffindor, looked at the puny first years in amazement, asking incredulously, "Were we that small when we first came here?"

Hermione nodded, "Hard to believe, isn't it?".

A stool was placed in front of the staff table by Filch and a hush immediately fell on those present in the Great Hall. Sentences were left unfinished, conversations paused and heads swivelled around to face the legendary sorting had that was placed on the stool. A seam ripped open and the hat began to recite its poem. The voice of the hat was loud, carrying its words to all ears in the hall. As usual, the words were profound and filled with great meaning. The students listened in amazement and clapped with enthusiasm when it finished. Then, Prefessor McGonagall loudly read out the students' names from her list and placed the sorting hat on each their heads. In the end, there were 10 new Gryffindors, eight Ravenclaws, nine Hufflepuffs and nine Slytherins. Prefessor Dumbledore then stood up and made his usual welcome speech. As always, the headmaster was aware of the rumbling stomachs and kept it short, along with the usual cautions and reminders.

"Now I'm sure all of you are famished," Dumbledore said, smiling fondly at his students. "So without further ado, let the feast begin!"

This end of his speech was met with cheers and claps as the golden plates on the house tables filled themselves with food fit for kings. Ron and Harry, hungry from the train ride, proceeded to grab any food item within their reach(which was a lot) and stuffed themselves silly. Hermione was quite in awe and a little repulsed at the rate food was going into their mouths. Turning away in a bid to preserve her appetite and her sanity, Hermione took some of the foods she fancied, nibbling delicately.

Ron, with his mouth full said incoherently, "'aren joo dungry, 'yione?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, suppressing a shudder at Ron's table manners, or lack thereof, saying, "Honestly Ron, do swallow your food before talking. I haven't the foggiest idea what you're yapping about."

Ron swallowed his food in one big gulp, again making Hermione want to shudder, before repeating, "I said,aren't you hungry, Hermione?"

"Yes, I am hungry. I just don't stuff my mouth full with food until it's practically going to explode."

Harry spat out his food and started choking, though he tried his level best to pass it off as violent sneezing. Ron gave him a death glare.

"So much for support from you..."

The food soon disappeared and the students reluctantly and slowly made their way back to their respective common rooms, their movements hampered by all the food consumed and their new potbellies. Hermione sat down on one of the chairs on front if the fireplace with Ron and Harry on either side of her, enjoying the warmth of the fire and the softness of the seat beneath her. With good food in her belly and a comfy chair to rest in, she felt quite content and happy.

However, Hermione noticed for the first time that they seemed to be staring at her. It was quite disconcerting to feel their eyes practically boring into her.

Feeling irritated, she demanded, "What? Do I have something on my shirt or something?"

Ron shook his head slowly, "No... nothing is wrong... everything is perfectly fine..."

Harry nodded his head in agreement.

Hermione arched her eyebrow,"Right... well, goodnight you two."

She shook her head and started for the girls' dormitory. Ron and Harry looked after her until she disappeared into the room. In the girls' dormitory, Hermione took a moment to ponder the most unusual incident back in the common room. However, she soon came to the conclusion that they'd consumed too much food and the fat must have been clogging up their brains. Dismissing the whole thing, Hermione made her way to her bed, only to be attacked by a redheaded girl called Ginny Weasley.

Ginny squealed, flinging her arms around Hermione's neck and choking her, "Ohhh! Two simply strapping young men are on Cloud Nine!"

Hermione gasoed, trying to fight off her friend and managed to get out, "Ginny, what are you talking about?"

"Oh come on, Hermione, I've seen that look before. The look that all boys get when they're smitten."

Hermione finally got Ginny off her and rolled her eyes, getting off the bed. She looked down at her friend disbelievingly, her hands on her hips, quite unable to believe that Ron and Harry was carrying a torch for her. I Her /I of all people. Impossible. Very impossible.

"Nonsense, Ginny. I think all that food's gotten to your head too."

With that, she went off in a huff to get changed for bed, leaving behind a rather offended redhead.

"Hey! I only ate five slices of pie!" Ginny protested from Hermione's bed.

Later, as Hermione pulled her blanket over her and tried to sleep, her blasted mind kept wondering why her two best friends were staring at her in that most disturbing fashion and she couldn't seem to go to sleep. Damn Ginny. Why did she have to go and remind her about it? However, Hermione couldn't deny that it was all very odd. Turning in bed, she fervently hoped that everything would be normal and fine the next day.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm quite aware that nothing happened in the previous chapter but hey, give me a break, this is my very first fan fiction XDD This chapter wouldn't have much either, except emphasise that Hermione's freaked out by Harry and Ron and that those two clods were taking things too fast. The next chapter will be funnier, promise. (:

Hermione, ever the early bird, pried open one eye to see the morning sun just starting its journey upwards to chase away the darkness and allow light to reign once more. The ray of light shone brightly onto the stirring school of Hogwarts, signalling the start of a new day. She got up slowly and lazily stretched, taking the time to work the kinks out of her back before standing before the dormitory window to peep out into the world. She sighed at the beautiful sunrise and watched the light coloured everything a rich hue of gold. The sky was a lovely mixture of pink clouds and blue. What a lovely beginning to a Saturday morning.

Smiling and eager to get start her day; Hermione got dressed and in a flash, was hopping down the staircase to the common room. Not surprisingly, she was the first to be up and running, given the day. But it didn't matter the day to Hermione. She was always up at sunrise, ready to see the sun coming up, weekend or no. Besides, she was fairly used to the silence of the common room in the morning. She liked to take this time to read her books and finish whatever homework was left (which was highly unlikely, really).

Already, one week had flown by faster than the blink of an eye, like a blur. A blur filled with teachers and homework and more homework. Hermione never knew that days could pass by so fast in Hogwarts. Granted. There were always the pesky Slytherins to strangle, a certain greasy-haired Professor Snape to put up with... not to mention the additional workload the teachers gave the poor pupils who were taking their N.E.W.Ts this year (Most were already neck deep in essays). But still, the students just couldn't help but find the fun in all of that and enjoy their time at Hogwarts. They never failed to do that, no matter the evil potions master and the mountain of homework that threatened to drown them all. And not forgetting the fact that Malfoy didn't appear all week, much to the Gryffindors' delight. They couldn't really care about why he wasn't making his annoying self known. Honestly, they were too busy rejoicing to give a fart.

Hermione sat herself down in front of the burning fire and opened a book on her lap, ready to enrich her mind with new knowledge of the vast world of magic. Within moments, she was completely engrossed in her books, soaking information about spells like a sponge soaks in water, a lot and very rapidly. The loud creaking of an opening door in the rather deafening silence disturbed the peace, making Hermione frown a bit as she was brought back from her little world of spells and made aware of her surroundings once more.

Hermione, not looking up from her book said, "Morning Ginny, had a good night's sleep?"

The youngest of the Weasley clan sank down in one of the chairs, settling into a sprawl, heaving a loud sigh. Through bleary and half-opened eyes, Ginny looked at her friend from her position in the chair, stifling a yawn as she wondered how anyone could even think of reading a textbook on a Saturday morning. Certainly, they do enough of that five days a week.

"Yup... And did I ever need it… The teachers are killing us with all their h- homework…" Ginny stammered, releasing the yawn and was bent on coming out. "I don't know how you managed to survive last year without dying."

Hermione rolled her eyes and took of her eyes of the page of her book and looked at her friend who was on the brink of nodding off to sleep again. Hermione shut her book with a loud snap, making her friend bolt upright in her chair with alarm.

Satisfied that her audience is sufficiently awake, Hermione replied, "Honestly Ginny, it isn't so difficult if you use your time wisely."

Ginny scowled at her friend, retorting, "Easy for you to say, you don't have Quidditch practices..."

Before Hermione could open her mouth and make a suitable reply to that, Harry and Ron walked into the common room. Both boys plopped down onto chairs; sleep still in their eyes. Hermione couldn't help but giggle at the sight of them. Though Ginny was still sleepy, Ginny managed to get her clothes on properly and looked decent enough. In the case of Harry and Ron however, they were apparently more than half asleep as they got ready for the day. Harry's hair was worse then ever. His hair stuck up everywhere and drooped over his eyes, giving him an Old English Sheepdog appearance. His shirt was inside out and his glasses were askew. Ron was far worse than his companion. His fiery hair was standing on end, giving the impression that he got electrocuted at some point during the night. He had a bit of drool sliding from the corner of his mouth and a bit of that dropped onto his improperly buttoned shirt (He missed a few buttons as well). And to top it all off, he was still in his pyjamas bottoms, which had ducklings as a pattern. All in all, the two were a comical pair and a sight to behold on a Saturday morning. They didn't even notice the two girls. Ginny gave a very Malfoy-ish smirk (the smirk that he reserved for when he was doing something particularly nasty) that scared Hermione. Ginny got up silently and crept up to the half-awakened boys.

She took in a deep, deep breath before yelling at the very top of her lungs and the loudest she could manage, "RISE AND SHINE YOU LAZY GOOD FOR NOTHINGS! TIME TO GET OFF THOSE DUCKIES AND DO SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE!"

Ron and Harry's eyes shot open as they sat up right shouting (curiously) in unison, "We didn't dump a pail of slugs down Professor Snape's underwear! That greasy-haired monkey is making it all up!"

They continued blabbing about how they were innocent for a few more minutes before stopping suddeny and looking around. They looked at the two girls, blinking like a pair of owls in confusion.

"Er… Good morning?"

Poor Harry and Ron were further puzzled when the two girls proceeded to laugh uncontrollably. Ginny went so fast as to tumble off her chair and roll about on the floor, clutching her stomach. She was quite literally 'rolling along the aisles'. As the minutes passed, more Gryffindors filled the common room, glad to have a break. And what better way to wake up than look at Ron and Harry. Poor guys. They didn't realise the matter with their attire until half the Gryffindor house was roaring the common room ceiling down with laughter. With rapidly reddening faces, they bid a hasty retreat back to their common room to change, escape the laughter and let everything blow over (Not that it would ever happen, mind). The famous trio were reunited at the Great Hall when Harry and Ron found the courage to get out of hiding and face the ribbing. All about was the noise of talking students and the clanking of forks and spoons. It was then the trio caught a glimpse of platinum blonde at the Slytherin table. It was none other than the notorious, evil, annoying, bratty, despicable, evil, irritating, vile, evil Draco Malfoy. Of course it had to be Malfoy. Hair slicked back, the usual drawl lining his voice, his trademark smirk forever on his ratty face... not to mention the crowd of students (All Slytherins actually) around him soaking up every word he said like little puppies. And as usual, Pansy was clinging onto him like glue, as if the very existence of the work depended on it.

From where the three were sitting, they could hear Pansy loud and clear. Though whether that was good or bad was questionable.

"Draaaaaaayyyyykkkkiiiieee-pooo..." Pansy whined, batting her artificial eyelashes at him and trying to look coy. "Could you feed me some sausages, snooky-woo?"

Some students spat out whatever they had in their mouths and started choking most violently. Others laughed so hard; they required the support of the table or a friend to keep themselves from falling off the bench. Hermione, though her tears of laughter, thought she saw a student turning blue. Quite suddenly, the entire hall was filled with the deafening sound of laughter and choking. Even some of the teachers were trying to hide their laughter behind their goblets or tried valiantly to pretend as though they've heard nothing, though the twitching of lips was a dead giveaway.

Draco replied curtly through clenched teeth, "I'm not your bloody maid, Pansy."

The trio could just hear Draco grinding his teeth with anger. Hell, they half expected steam to blow out from his nostrils and Draco to start breathing fire. Pansy's lower lip quivered and she snatched her hands off Draco in a huff. Then she looked expectantly at the blonde.

After a few minutes, Pansy snapped, "That was the part where you apologise and say you love me!"

It took a moment for the entire student population to register what the overly ambitious girl had said. Then the laughter started again with renewed force. It was ludicrous and of course, never will happen. Even Draco forgot his role to play the fire-breathing dragon and joined the rest of the students, howling with laughter.

He barely managed to say, "We- we're n- not acting P- p- pansy and I don't love you. So g- get used to it."

Pansy burst dramatically into tears (which nearly everyone suspected were forced ones) and ran from the hall, most probably carrying some foolish fantasy that Draco might come running after her, bursting with apologies and professions of his undying love for her. As if. The students continued laughing for a few more minutes before the amusement gradually died down and the eating of breakfast was resumed, with no further incident, barring the fact that the blue-faced boy had fainted and had to be revived.

Hermione said to Harry, Ron and Ginny, "That Pansy's got some nerve. I can't believe she's still hasn't taken a clue and took her sorry pug nose somewhere else. She takes 'clueless' to a whole new level… Not to mention that she's such an embarrassment to us females."

The others nodded rather absentmindedly, for they were too busy piling their plates high with food and tucking in. Suddenly, Hermione noticed Harry and Ron staring at her again, the dreamy look back in their eyes. They'd been doing that for the past week, watching her when they thought she wasn't looking. It was way past creepy. It was like she was a new species of bug being studied under a microscope. Hermione didn't like being watched by her two best friends and she didn't like the feeling of holes being drilled into her. Sitting in front of Hermione, Ginny raised her eyebrows at her friend, giving an I- told-you-so look.

Ginny mouthed to Hermione, "Cloud nine..."

Herione rolled her eyes dismissively and got up. No way were Ron and Harry carrying a crush on her. Come on, it was I Ron /I and I Harry /I they were talking about. Ron and Harry whom she'd known for all her time at Hogwarts. Ron and Harry with whom she went to classes with, did detention with… did nearly I everything /I with. She'd come to see them as more like the two brothers she'd never had but wished she did. It just didn't seem right that they'd develop a tender for her. At that frightening thought, she turned and left the Great Hall, all but fleeing to the Gryffindor common room, leaving behind Harry and Ron who were still staring after her. Ginny, Ron and Harry later went up to the common room after finishing their breakfast to find Hermione in the process finishing up her homework, her quill flying over the surface of the parchment at a remarkable pace. Information seemed to come to Hermione as easy as breathing does. Effortless. The fact that this talent of Hermione's was quite amazing was not lost on the three and they took a couple of minutes to stare in awe and wonder. Ginny was the first to return to earth.

"Hey Hermione, we're going down to the Quidditch pitch to practice, want to come?" Ginny suggested, sounding hopeful.

Hermione didn't say anything, continuing to scribble furiously at the paper for a few more seconds before dotting a full stop quite dramatically and setting her quill down.

She then looked up brightly and chirped, "Sure!"

A couple of minutes earlier, Hermione wouldn't have agreed to watch them play Quidditch even if the world depended on it. However, while her friends were busy gorging themselves with sausages and pancakes, Hermione was doing some serious thinking (Honestly, when did she I not /I ?). Since she could very well attribute the staring to food, Hermione then concluded that she was merely blowing everything severely out of proportion and that everything in actuality was just hunky-dory.

With that mind-set, Hermione got up and followed her friends down to the pitch. Not that she was really a Quidditch fan or anything, but Hermione was willing to sit down and watch them practice with the rest of the Quidditch team. She found it immensely more entertaining and exciting then hearing them drone on and on about the sport. She'd much rather I watch /I them instead of I hear /I them. Besides, they've been using up every spare minute they can to practice and practice they did. After all the hard work they've been putting into their practices, Hermione felt obliged to go down and watch them. All that determination and perseverance stemmed from them up-coming match with Ravenclaw and the team was most bent against losing, for they were quite set on clinching the championship title and bring glory to the house of Godric Gryffindor once more. Besides, they wouldn't want to let Professor McGonagall down after she'd expressed her delight at having the Quidditch trophy on display in her office.

Finding a prime spot from which to watch the practice session, Hermione folded her hands on her lap and watched her fellow Gryffindors zoom by on their broomsticks. Apparently, they were working to perfect their various strategies to make the passing of the quaffle safer and faster. They were just so impressive that Hermione couldn't help but start jumping about on the bench and cheering and applauding. Passing students thought her skirt had caught fire or something similar. But Hermione couldn't care less about the odd looks and finger twirling beside the head people gave her, she was just too damn proud of the team.

All out of breath and sweaty, the players and Hermione included, called the session to an end and dragged themselves back to their common room, absolutely dying for a hot shower and some well deserved rest. Well, everyone except Hermione who was bouncing all the way, enthusing about how good they'd been until Ginny got tired of her perkiness and told her to 'PIKE DOWN!' However, their rest had to wait, for the Quidditch players obviously procrastinated when it came to their homework. As a result, the idea of bed was pushed aside and they started on their rather large mountain of homework. Hermione sighed, grinning at them in an affectionate fashion. "Typical" was all Hermione said before she sat herself down in front of the fire and absorbed herself in her book of spells again. Again, she felt the damn drilling of holes into her! Sliding a sidelong glance over at the table over which Ginny, Harry and Ron were using to tackle their homework; Hermione caught the two boys watching her again, their homework forgotten for the moment. The witch was sorely tempted to bash them up with her rather heavy textbook. That ought to teach them to stare at her so eerily.

Poor Hermione wasn't even spared from the staring during dinnertime. She'd felt them watching her throughout and that fairly ruined Hermione's appetite. Excusing herself to Ginny, Hermione scrambled from the bench and rushed back to the Gryffindor common room. Ginny glared at her two boy friends, the hand clutching her fork twitching, proof that the redhead wanted to do some serious damage to the two wizards. Now that Hermione was gone, the boys were brought back into the present and Ron noticed the twitching of Ginny's hand.

"Your hand's twitching. You feelin' alright?"

"Are you both dense or are you both dense?" Ginny cried out, exasperated.

Apparently, the two boys had never been stared at intensely before in their lives. Thus they had no way of knowing that such staring could disturb a person so (They thought it would be rather flattering to the person on the receiving end, actually.) and this resulted in a swift kick in the shins. They were so surprised by this unexpected attack that they lifted their knees quite suddenly and bumped them on the table, shaking the plates and goblets.

"Damn!"

"Bloody hell, that smarts!"

That unplanned bonus added to Ginny's satisfaction as she flounced out of the Great Hall, sparing them a backward glare.

"What'd we do?"

"Nothing. She was just being a witch."

In the cocoon of her bed, Hermione stared at the ceiling of the girls' dormitory, pondering. Pulling her comforter over her, as if it might ward off the stares, Hermione shut her eyes, prepared to slip off into sleep. But she wouldn't sleep. The stares were past freaky. Hermione honestly wished they would stop it. It wasn't flattering in the least, no matter what they thought (If they even thought at all). And on the off chance that they I did /I have a crush on her, this whole thing was going too fast it was just ridiculous! Things like these took I time /I . Apparently, all that top speed flying on their broomsticks eradicated such a word from Harry and Ron's vocabulary list. The girl was unbelievably grateful when sleep finally decided to take pity on her and swallow her up.


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter is a wee bit shorter than the others, but ah well; I've already tried my utmost best to lengthen it as much as possible. Thanks for all the lovelyreviews and stuff, I really appreciate it And fear not, Draco will be appearing in the next chapter, which should be coming out within the next few days.

Thanks for your patience XD

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_Hermione was walking along the Black Lake, very animatedly conversing with Lavander and Pavarti. The sun was out, shining brightly on the deserted grounds of Hogwarts. The grass was a deep green, looking untouched and almost pristine. Beside the girls, the waters of the lake gently nudged the bank, making soft, tranquil sounds. Birds chirped, adding to the picture of utmost serenity._

_Their under topic discussion was unknown, the words spoken refusing to be heard, but it was clear that the girls were enjoying themselves immensely, laughing and smiling. However, when Hermione turned to glance at Hogwart's clock tower, her surroundings suddenly fell away. She and her two companions were abruptly standing in a world of black. It wasn't dark, but it wasn't bright either, their light coming from some unknown source. And they were quite alone, save the clock tower. Hermione screamed. The face of the clock was watching her. She wasn't quite sure how she knew, but she did. Her skin crawled. The clock tracked her every movement. Slowly, she could see a pair of eyes take shape. With growing horror, she saw another pair of eyes form beneath the first. She could see the pupils, the colour flooding to fill them._

_Green and blue._

_Turning to see if Lavander and Parvarti were alright, Hermione's own eyes widened. She was staring into two pairs of eyes, green and blue respectively. The very same two pairs of eyes on the face of the clock tower. Eyes that belonged Harry and Ron. Before she could even blink, pairs of blue and green eyes started to open all around her, staring at her, tracking her… She could feel the intensity of their stare… So intense it seemed to burn her…_

Bolting upright in her bed, Hermione Granger cursed loudly, shielding her protesting eyes from the sudden invasion of rays of the rising sun into her eyes. But that was little price to pay for the end of that terrible nightmare. Prying open one eye, Hermione found that she was a tad late today, awaking shortly after the crack of dawn, but still she was the very first one to stir in the girls' dormitory. And in accord to years of routine that would not be broken by a mere nightmare, she went over to the window to witness the beautiful sunrise, the banishment of darkness for the time being. She never seemed to miss it, always waking up just in time to catch the rising sun. However, Hermione watched the colourful display today with considerably less enthusiasm than usual. Granted, given yesterday and the whole 'staring in the Great Hall' business. Not to mention the nightmare she just had. Hermione shuddered violently, rubbing her eyes, as if she could erase the images away that way. She couldn't believe she was being haunted by those stares even in her dreams! It was ridiculous! She groaned.

"Merlin help me… I think I'm really going mad…"

Though it was Sunday, she honestly wished it wasn't. In fact, she didn't want it to be _any_ day. Hermione didn't think she could take another bout of the staring and survive it without going absolutely nutty. In fact, Hermione was already half convinced she was as nutty as a nut. Come on, people dreamt of failing exams, of evil potion teachers and the like, but what did Ishe/I dream of? Bloody, freakin' Istares/I! She counted to thirty to calm herself down before taking in a deep breath to fortify herself for another day at Hogwarts and Harry and Ron.

Hermione had a quick shower and a blindly threw on random clothe articles that had been within her reach before dragging herself down the stairs to the Gryffindor common room with great reluctance and a sense of trepidation. Seeing the area deserted as usual, her spirits lifted a notch. Perhaps today wouldn't be so bad after all, if the start of the day wasn't any indication, which she sincerely hoped it was not. Once again following routine, she seated herself in front of the crackling fire and opened her textbook, her thickest book yet, on potions, though she did it today with an added purpose to occupy her thoughts in place away from staring eyes, as well as to add to her already vast bank of knowledge. It didn't take her long enough to engross herself in the various herbs and potions, learning and noting their properties, effects and whatnot, carefully storing the information away in her head, her thirst for knowledge unquenchable.

Unfortunately for Hermione, what seemed to be the beginning of a typical and normal day took a sharp turn for the worst. For instead of Ginny coming down the stairs, it was Harry and Ron. Those two boys had always 'slept like pigs on Sundays' as Hermione could be quoted saying. And today was Sunday and they sure as hell weren't sleeping like pigs. They were wide-awake, clothes right and buttons properly done. Hermione looked up, prepared to greet Ginny. Catching sight of the Dreaded Duo (as she'd labelled them while taking her bath) and with the nightmare still fresh in her mind, Hermione suddenly felt like a fox cornered by a pack of hounds. Quit obviously, they had to have planned all this for some unknown purpose, or they wouldn't be caught dead walking around the common room so early in the morning on a Sunday. And they were nervous about something, Hermione noted with a growing sense of dread. In fact, Hermione observed over the top of her book, Ron looked so nervous he was probably going to pee in his pants at any given moment. She proceeded to hide her face behind her textbook and hope against hope that they hadn't noticed her. No such luck, of course. They both seemed to head towards her but at the last minute, made a sharp turn for the chairs. Both took one, carefully lowering their bottoms on the cushion with utmost care and seating themselves in a most proper fashion. Hermione was near in a panic. She couldn't remember a time when Harry and Ron _didn't_ just drop into a chair in a sprawl!

"Morning Harry… Ron…" Hermione said warily, peering at them suspiciously over the top of her book.

All she got in return for her greeting, albeit a rather reluctant greeting, was a nod their heads. Not a couple of nods, just one. Then, quiet. The silence was thick and deafening, for nobody was willing to say anything else to start up some form of conversation. After a few more awkward minutes, Harry finally broke the spell by the simple act of clearing his throat. Finally, Hermione thought with a spurt of irritation.

He cleared his throat again before saying, "H- Hermione…"

His voice was little more than a mousy squeak and Ron scrunched up his nose with disgust at his friend as if to say, "What was _that_?" Harry, turning into a very Ron shade of red, cleared his throat for a third time, completely erasing Hermione's earlier dread with annoyance. She wished he'd just get on with it and spit whatever it was out. Preferably his voice box, actually. She had better things to do than listen to him spouting nonsensical and unintelligent stuff.

"I...I have something t- to tell you..." Harry tried again, managing to sound normal this time.

The girl snorted, arching her eyebrow and nodding her head slowly, indicating that he ought to go on and fast, or risk having bodily harm done to him. Honestly, the boy was such a mouse. A mouse with a small heart, even smaller courage and even, _even_ smaller brain.

Harry finally blurted out, "Hermione, Ihavefeelingsforyou."

Hermione, who amazingly managed to understand what he said, just sat there, rendered utterly speechless. This was wrong on so many, many levels! Hermione felt woozy, as though she were going to faint. Oh Merlin, help me, Hermione pleaded. Ron's eyes widened and he leaped out of the chair as quick as a whip, startling Hermione out of her woozy state, and proceeded to glare daggers at Harry. If looks could kill, Harry would have been no more in that instant. Ron's face seemed to go redder than his hair (if that were possible) and he started to take on the resemblance of a particularly crimson beetroot.

He shouted at Harry, gesturing wildly with his hand (and nearly jabbing Hermione in her eye), "What? That was what _I_ wanted to tell her!"

Harry flapped away Ron's hands, ignoring him as he looked at Hermione expectantly.

"Well?" Harry asked, giving his best pathetic puppy look, blinking those bottle green eyes.

The poor girl was dazed. She couldn't believe that she was being put through this torture! What had she ever done to deserve this? Maybe she'd hit Harry and Ron one time too many… Hazel brown eyes kept darting between the two. Besides, how could she possibly choose between her two best friends? It was like choosing between a book on potions and spells! In short, it was impossible!

Hermione stammered, "I...I… I mean… I don't know..."

"Choose me!" said Harry and Ron in unison, raising their hand like little children waiting to be called upon by their teacher to answer a question during class.

The two boys then started glaring at each other in a face off of sorts, a western showdown. Only, there were no guns, and they were in a common room, which was in a castle. Both boys pushed up their sleeves and raised their fists, falling into battle stance; ready to fight to the death (maybe not) over the girl they so desired to have as his girlfriend. Hermione silently thanked the stars that nobody else was awake at this hour, or who knows what would happen. Everyone would egg them on no doubt, and it'll all be such a catastrophe. She had to think of something, and fast, or she'd lost two of her best friends (which in such a situation, would probably be a good thing). Hermione scrambled to her feet and tried to force the two boys apart before someone got seriously injured but to no avail. In the baffling world of boys, apparently in the preliminary round of the battle, it was protocol to exchange insults. And exchange insults, they most certainly did.

"I wanted to tell her first but _no_, you had to butt your big ass in and tell her first!"

"_You_ were the one who became the bloody chicken and sprouted feathers!"

"Call me a chicken again and _die,_ pothead!"

"Chicken! Chick, chick chicken!"

Then Harry started mimicking the sound of a chicken clucking and did a dance around the common room. A most ridiculous jig that made him look like a clothed chicken wearing glasses. Hermione could only watch, torn between laughter and despair. This was fast becoming silly. Ron's face deepened to a shade of red so dark, even nature couldn't manage to produce a likeness of it. At the end of his rope, Ron lunged for Harry who was in the middle of squatting down. He was apparently pretending to lay an egg. But upon seeing Ron laugh himself at him like a red-faced human missile, and screamed loudly like a girl. They landed in a tangled heap on the ground, Ron on top and Harry, crushed at the bottom. Ron seized Harry in a violent chokehold and started to shake his friend by the neck. Gagging and sputtering most terribly, Harry tried to fend off Ron by aiming kicks at Ron's bottom. Not surprisingly, it didn't work, for his leg just kept bouncing off Ron's rear.

"You… need to go on… a diet…" Harry managed to get out, now clawing at his friend's hands as well.

"DIE, POTTER! DIE, I SAY!" Ron roared, now banging Harry's head on the floor, knocking his glasses off his nose

Hermione looked around frantically, trying to think up something that would save the both of them. Suddenly, Harry's foot, upon bouncing away from Ron's behind, accidentally landed on Hermione's stomach when she came closer in an attempt to break them apart. The force knocked the wind out of her and she doubled over, gasping.

Clutching her stomach, she growled, "You two are _beyond _impossible!"

With that said, she turned around and stormed out of the common room in the most dignified way possible. Honestly, how dignified can a one be when one walks while clutching one's stomach in pain? Seething and cursing violently beneath, Hermione stomped holes in the floor in her rage. So angered was she that Hermione nearly tore a hole right though the portrait of the Fat Lady on her way out.

"Oy! Do watch where you're going, young lady!"

"Oh, just sod off!" Hermione snapped, leaving behind a most offended portrait.

Normally, Hermione would have apologized but she was in far too much pain and in far too much of a rage to do so. Who could blame her? Her Sunday morning just got ruined by a pair of clods and she got _kicked _in the stomach to top it all off. Looking like murder (and certainly bent on committing it on a certain Harry and Ron), she slowly made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast. She would need energy after all, if she were to kill Harry and Ron.

Hermione dropped into the empty space beside Ginny and immediately started grabbing food with her free left hand. Her right hand was clutching a knife, for it was her throwing hand, and if Harry and Ron were stupid enough to enter the Great Hall while she was in the vicinity, then she wanted a smacking good chance of creating a hole one in of those two goons. It needn't need to be a big hole. Hermione would be quite happy with a hole of any diameter.

Turning away from Colin to face Hermione, Ginny ignored the disturbing way her friend was clutching her knife, said, "Did you hear? Harry and Ron aren't on speaking terms. Knowing it those two, it was most definitely over something stupid, like a lost sock or something."

"Mmhm," Hermione agreed over a mouth full of sausage. Swallowing, she added with a snarl, "Believe me, it was stupid alright. Hmph. I ought to know."

Deciding not to risk being impaled by Hermione's fork, Ginny turned back to Colin and resumed their conversation from where they left off. However, only half of Ginny's mind was concentrating on what Colin was saying. The other more nosey and detective half of her brain was turning its wheels away, piecing together information and generally, figured out what was going on. Hermione wasn't the only one with a brain.

Wolfing down the rest of her breakfast, Hermione sped out of the Great Hall, lest she see Harry and Ron. Since Hermione sure as hell was not going to return to the common room for as long as she can manage, she thought she might as well do something more productive with her time other than moping around and cursing Harry and Ron. And that meant going to the library to study. Of course, what else could it have been? Polishing her books? Please, she'd already done that last week. And besides, if Harry and Ron ever showed their faces in the library and started another fight, Hermione was more than confident that she could rely on Mrs. Pince to kick them out by their sorry asses.


	4. Chapter 4

To Hermione, Sunday seemed to take a few hundred eons to pass and end. Well not really, seeing as how she'd spend a good portion of her day doing what she loved and did best, studying. Not that she was complaining, but she'd been counting on spending some time with Harry and Ron. Lessons together just weren't counted. After all, they couldn't very well chat and laugh up a storm during lessons, could they? No, spending time together meant doing something fun together without hawk-nosed teachers breathing down your neck. But sadly, that wasn't the case and Hermione couldn't help but wish that Sunday hadn't gone so terribly, that they hadn't started their stupid staring, that Ron and Harry hadn't fought. In fact, Hermione wished a lot of things hadn't happened. But it did, and there wasn't a thing she could do about it. Because she was intelligent, Hermione didn't break down and scream dramatically, "Why? WHY?" And because she was in the house of Gryffindor, where the those sorted into it are known for their courage, Hermione bore it all with the Gryffindor brand of bravery without ever snapping once. And Hermione Granger certainly had good reason to snap.

Hermione lifted one heavy eyelid before letting it fall again to cover her eye. Damn, the sun was bright! Reluctantly, Hermione groggily rolled out of bed and rubbed at her eyes. Merlin, she was sleepy. Why am+ I so sleepy? Hermione wondered, the question suddenly popping out from the back of her head as she let out a loud yawn. Oh yes, she'd spend the whole of yesterday in the library and didn't dare to return to her dormitory for fear of meeting certain you-know-who's, until Mrs. Pince chased her while brandishing a dictionary menacingly. Why she even though a 'weapon' necessary, was beyond Hermione. Perhaps the old bat really was+ batty. With even greater reluctance, Hermione opened her eyes and looked out the dormitory window. Apparently, she was so tired that she woke up later than usual, if the already risen sun was any indication. Already, the girl's dormitory was flooded with bright daylight. With a sense of disappointment, Hermione got up and slowly made her way to the bathroom. She couldn't remember a time when she'd missed the sun- Blimey! It's Monday, Hermione thought with horror. And here she was, taking her own sweet time to get ready when she needed to get changed, eat breakfast, avoid Ron and Harry, round up her stuff… The list goes on and on! She'd simply no time to dilly-dally. Quickening her steps, Hermione rushed through her shower and clothes like a hurricane, leaping down the steps and into the common room before anyone could say 'Hogwarts'. Her speed was partly due to her haste to finish 'morning to-dos' and partly because she was just plain excited about the start of classes again. Another whole week of learning of new things, oh the joy of it all!

But the thought of sitting near Harry and Ron brought a bit of a drag into her steps. Hermione had completely forgotten about that not so small problem in her haste and excitement. What would+ she do about it? Sit somewhere else for the time being, perhaps? With a frown marring her face, Hermione was pleased to note that Harry and Ron were not up to anything stupid this morning. Indeed, they were nowhere in sight, as were the rest of the house of Gryffindor. She might have risen late, but Hermione will forever be the first to step into the common room everyday, barring the house elves. It was something she took great pride in, being the early bird.

Still scrambling for a solution, Hermione scurried about, completing her little 'to-do list' for the day before rushing into the Great Hall for breakfast. First class was potions. Granted not a good start to a week but nevertheless, Hermione was dead set against giving that greasy-haired, hook-nosed butt-hole a chance to deduct points from Griffondor. No siree, she would give him no reason to take away points if she couldn't give him a reason to add them.

By the time Hermione reached the Great Hall, most of the students of Hogwarts were up and about, albeit still sleepy, and she was greeted by the noise of students talking rapidly and utensils clanging into each other. It was a typical scene, really. Her stomach rumbling impatiently like a volcano just itching to erupt, Hermione dropped onto the bench next to Ginny, who was already taking vicious bites out of a sausage. Running about so early in the morning had rendered her ravenous and Hermione obliged her growling tummy, grabbing food and eating them at a marvellous pace, though not in a gorge-yourself-silly way. Oh no, no matter how hungry she was, Hermione Granger will forever be above that.

"So, decided to join us, have you?" Ginny said after swallowing her sausage.

Hermione paused her intake of food to reply, "Stuff to do."

Ginny found her answer too vague and uninformative for her liking and was about to ask more questions for the sake of clarification when they were interrupted by a bit of commotion coming from the Slytherin table.

"Aw, come on, Drakie-wakie, no need to be so shy about your feelings for me!" Pansy cooed, latching onto his arm so tightly, everyone was sure she was cutting off the blood supply to the wizard's poor arm.

The wizard in question was frantically trying to peel her hands away while gritting out, "Stop calling me that… that degrading+ name! And I'm not+ shy about my feelings about you because of the simple reason that I don't have+ them! Furthermore, release my arm IMMEDIATELY before it drops off from the lack of blood supply!"

Even the froth appearing around the corners of Draco's mouth weren't able to deter Pansy from clinging onto his arm and showing her affection for him. In fact, Hermione doubted that even a whole fleet of dementors would have been able to keep Pansy from 'her' Draco.

"Argh! STAY AWAY from me, you stupid witch!"

With that yelled, Draco Malfoy upped from the bench and ran out of the hall at top speed, leaving Pansy pattering after him in his dust. It took a moment for the entire student body to realise that Draco Malfoy had reached his breaking point and actually fled+ from Pansy Parkinson. They immediately burst into laughter the moment that sank in. Amusing as it was, they really couldn't blame him, for just about anyone, even a person with great tolerance, wouldn't have been able to digest Pansy Parkinson. In fact, it was already quite amazing in itself that Draco wasn't in St. Mungo's because of mental damage.

"Poor Draco," said Lavander who'd just reached the table, having passed Draco on his hasty way out of the Great Hall. "Sometimes, being one the hottest guys in the whole of Hogwarts can be quite stressful, eh?"

Turning away from the conversation which had turned into a debate on who exactly was the hottest male in Hogwarts, Hermione continued to wolf down her breakfast. Her eyes suddenly flitted to the entrance of the Great Hall of their own accord, having sensed some sort of 'violent' presense. She cursed, immediately turning her head away. She'd caught site of a deadly looking Ron and Harry enter the Great Hall. This wasn't anything to raise eyebrows about, but the fast that they weren't being all buddy-buddy with each other and were instead trying to burn the other alive with his eyes over a distance of five feet, was. Those two were like the opposite poles of a magnet. If they got to close to each other, one of them had better move away or end up in the hospital wing. It was really quite sad to see that things had come to this, and it put a damper on Hermione's spirits. Mouth set in a grim like, she devoured the remains of her breakfast and rush out of the Great Hall before either Harry or Ron could utter a syllable to her. Hermione was further upset to hear another argument begin.

"This is all your fault, stupid weasel!"

"My fault! It's yours!"

She quickened her steps to prevent herself from hearing them fling insults from each other. She didn't want to hear it, didn't want to see what they might do to each other. Hermione snorted with derision at herself. People ran from their enemies, but she, she ran from best friends. What kind of person does that anyway? Hermione thought as she descend the grimy steps which led to the even grimier, dark and dank dungeons which housed the potions rooms. Suddenly Draco Malfoy popped into her mind. Perhaps he too, ran from friends. Nah… She highly doubted that Draco considered Pansy a friend. More like a very ugly and stubborn leech that's stuck itself to him with Spellotape and refused to let go. And besides, Slytherins never had friends.

Speak of the devil. Hermione quickly skidded to a half when she caught sight of Draco Malfoy, already waiting outside the classroom, with Pansy nowhere in sight, or anyone else for that matter. Apparently, he had finally managed to shake the annoying female off of him for the moment. He was leaning on the wall next to the door (on the opposite side of the hinges), hands shoved deep into the pockets of his robes. His head was bent and wispy, silvery locks fell over to cover his eyes, but from where she stood, Hermione thought that he seemed very far away. He also looked every bit the hottest male in Hogwarts, but Hermione would have never admitted it to anyone, let alone herself. Her Gryffindor pride and stubbornness prevented it. Far away though he seemed, Hermione had no desire to be seen by him and have insults flung at her. Hazel eyes darting quickly about the area, Hermione quickly ducked behind a pillar, grateful for ones that the dreaded dungeons were so dark, for surely it would have helped camouflaged her, what with her dark robes and all.

No such luck. Luck never seemed to be on Hermione's side these days. Though he had seemed very far away to Hermione, he sure as hell wasn't. Draco was merely staring at the floor due to the lack of something better to do. Because of this, Draco noticed movement in the direction of the stairs, not to mention he'd heard footsteps, so he was downright sure that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. Malfoy minds never did.

"Who's there?" Malfoy demanded, pushing himself away from the wall, his grey eyes narrowing menacingly.

Hermione gulped, peering ever so slightly around the corner. Boy, did he look scary when he glared like that. When he whipped out his wand from the depths of his robes, Hermione felt all colour drain from her face. Oh, surely he wouldn't try to hex her and right outside of the classroom, no less? And though she was confident that she could come up with some counterspell faster than the blink of an eye, Hermione still couldn't resist another gulp. She was only human after all.

Moving forward, Draco kept his eyes peeled, his ears pricked and alert. He knew someone was here, most probably a Gryffindor. No Slytherin would be coward enough to hide like some little mouse. They wouldn't be worthy to be in the house of Salazar Slytherin if they did. Occationally glancing back, Draco looked about intently, determined not to be caught by surprise. He was about to round the pillar behind which Hermione was hiding when a whole swarm of students suddenly chose that moment to flood down the stairs and into the dungeons. Lest people think that Draco Malfoy had lost his marbles, brandishing his wand at nothing and moving about stealthily like he was some international spy on a top secret mission, he hurriedly stowed away his want. Feigning ignorance, Draco immediately dropped against the pillar, a hair's breath away from Hermione, and pretended as if he'd been leaning against the structure the whole time and had not been creeping about like a thief, trying to find out who it was who'd intruded on him. In fact, he was so occupied with playing that role that he didn't even notice the witch next to him, who was so scared out of her hair that she dare not even breath. In fact, she was fast turning blue. Hermione was vastly relieved when Draco finally moved away to join his cronies, and greedily filled her oxygen-deprived lungs with air.

Suddenly, all became deathly quiet as Professor Snape, also known as Mr.Greasy Baboon by the Gryffindors, swept the dungeons like a dark cloud, his robe billowing dramatically behind him. Conversations immediately fell off and all eyes turned to look at him warily, as if he might suddenly turn cannibalistic, gorge out their innards and eat them (the Gryffindors were quite convinced that he would, actually.) Unlocking the door to his previous potions room, Snape vanished into the dark depths of the chamber, leaving the students to follow in his wake.

As always, when the students had to do their work in pairs, Professor Snape never allowed them to choose their own partners. Oh no, he was never so nice. Snape relished the power he held over the students, and like the demented leaders who had existed and whose life was infamous in history, Severus Snape liked to create as much pain and unhappiness as he could for his students. Well, for the Gryffindors at least. It was no secret and surprise that the potions master favoured his precious Slytherins. They went together like bees did with honey, perfectly, seeing as how they were all gits, it would be hard to believe they would not+ get along.

And of course, the perfect method to cause pain and suffering to the poor Gryffindors was to pair them up with the Slytherins. Snape also did this in hopes that his dear Slytherins would rip the Gryffindor trash to shreds. Would save him the trouble. After all, if they got into a fight and the Slytherin got out of it alive while the other didn't, Snape could always say that the student did it out of self-defence. It was a plausible and bombproof excuse.

After much consideration on which Slytherin would go worst with which Gryffindor, Snape paired them up. Harry got paired up with Pansy, much to his disgust. Ron was slapped with Blaise and Hermione got stuck with Draco Malfoy. Today, they were working on Truth Potions, and the process to make the potion was highly complex and difficult. As Snaped walked, or crept, about the classroom, he bared his yellow teeth in a mockery of a smile and admired his genius. It was more than clear that it took every single drop of will-power and determined bone in Ron's body not to plunge his potion's knife through Blaise's black heart whenever he said a snide remark. Ron's face was rapidly darkening to an alarming shade of red in proportion to his effort and he wasn't chopping up his roots, he was mincing+ them into microscopic bits. Moving on. Snape was most disappointed to see that Harry didn't have much of a problem with Pansy, seeing as how she was too busy making calf-eyes and batting her fake eyelashes at Draco in a vain attempt to catch his attention. But his spirits lifted a fraction when he saw that though he had no trouble with Pansy, the same couldn't be said about his potion, if the frown on his forehead was any indication. Ah, the stupid boy was adding in the roots before stirring, tut tut. With luck, he might find a reason to deduct points right there. But probably the saddest thing was that Snape found Hermione and Draco weren't fighting. He'd been counting on these two to be at eachother's throats the moment they came within a five feet radius of eachother. Apparently, they both didn't mind the other, so long as the other kept said their trap shut. In fact, Hermione thought that should Draco ever be stupid enough to make some smart-arse remark, at the most, she would just hex Draco's said smart-arse off and perform a memory charm on Mr. Greasy Baboon. Hermione was confident that she could perform a memory charm successfully, but on the off chance that the process goes horribly awry, well then, that would be an added bonus. After all, there must be a reason as to why Snape's boxers were always in such a terrible twist. Perhaps a few memories forgotten would better his disposition. One can never know.

Once in a while, Hermione civilly would ask Draco to pass some ingredients over to her but that was it. No eye or physical contact. Not even an attempt as friendly conversation. Nope. They might be civil to eachother, but both acknowledged that the line would be drawn at friendly conversations. Both parties were unwilling to start being all buddy-buddy. Suddenly, a boom so loud that it rattled the cold chamber walls, was heard in the general direction of where Ron's cauldron was located. Professor Snape whirled around to find a rather black Ron standing beside the cauldron, his red hair which as black as the rest of him was standing on end. The Gryffindor looked very, very surprised. Blaise however, was worse off. The student in question was lying on the floor, quite bald (and quite shiny, due to the light in the dungeon), with his hair falling onto the ground around him, like snowflakes. Ron sneezed violently when one of Blaise's hairs went into his nose.

"Dory," Ron apologised, rubbing his nose in a most disgusting manner with the back of his hand.

"What happened?" The potions master demanded, hurrying over at once and helping Blaise up.

It was quite obvious that the head of Slytherin had already pointed the accusing finger at Ron, deeming him guilty without allowing him trial.

Ron looked defiantly up at Snape while answering, "Well it sure as hell wasn't my fault! Baldy here put something into the pot and BOOM, he was on the floor!"

Professor Snape glared into Ron's very soul, declaring imperiously, "Ten points for not saving him. Another five points for calling him 'baldy' and another five points for calling the cauldron a 'pot'."

Whispered protests could be heard throughout the room as the students muttered curses and other obscenities under their breath. All except the Gryffindors were smirking with ill-concealed, unholy glee.

"Weasley, take Mr. Zambini to the hospital wing now."

Ron, after muttered something (no doubt something terrible and not meant for young ears to hear) and said, "What about his hair?"

"Leave it. His hair looked like a nest anyway. Perhaps a new head of hair will be better."

Ron glared at Blaise, clearly unwilling to help a Slytherin. But because he had to and there was no other alternative to be done while they were still in class, Ron growled and placed Blaise's arm around his neck and hauled the boy roughly out of the room. Hermione could have sworn Ron kneed Blaise in the stomach when Snape wasn't looking. It didn't take too long for Ron to return to the potions room and everyone immediately assumed that due to Quidditch, Ron had developed muscles. Thus the reason why he could have gotten Blaise to the hospital wing so swiftly. Everyone thought this, except for Hermione and Harry who knew better. Ron grinned to himself, returning to his seat. Hermione and Harry were dead right, for Blaise had been abandoned in the nearest broom closet Ron could find. Hopefully, it would be a long+ time before he would be found. With a bit of luck, he might even be dead by then.

"Oh yes, another ten points from Gryffindor for taking such a long time."

Hermione glared at Snape but said nothing, knowing better. She wasn't called the smartest witch in her year for peanuts. Besides, knowing Ron had taken 'proper care' of Blaise was a soothing enough balm for her.

"Right, if there are no more explosions, I take it that you have somehow managed to brew your potion correctly. The Slytherins will test the potions on the Gryffindors. Slytherins will ask Gryffindors a question, any question at all. If all goes well, nobody else will be sent to the hospital wing."

Obviously the stupid baboon was hoping otherwise. Anybody could see it in the evil glint in his beady, piggy little eyes. Everyone was also wondering just how they were to know the other was telling a lie and not the truth. Obviously, Snape hadn't thought some things through. Nevertheless, the students did as they were told. Pansy scooped up some of the potion Harry solely had made and shoved it into the boy's mouth, despite his best efforts to keep his lips as tightly closed as possible. He swallowed the stuff and made a face, a shudder going through him.

After a few tense moments, Pansy asked, "Do you think Draco will marry me one day?"

Harry's face twitched and ached terribly as he struggled to hold back a laugh, as he said with derision, "No."

Pansy's bottom lip quivered, her piggish eyes filled with tears and she gave a great, great sniff before she let forth the inevitable wailing, like a dam finally bursting and letting all the water gush out. Only, it wasn't water rushing out, it was painful noise+. Everyone else in the room clapped their hands over their ears, trying to block out the dreadful racket the girl was making. The din was reverberating off the walls and quite piercing to the ears. It was beyond piercing, it was excruciating+. Hermione could have sworn a hairline crack was creeping its way onto Harry's spectacle lenses.

The potions master stalked back to the pair and snapped, "Now what? Why is she wailing like some tone-deaf banshee?"

"She asked me whether Draco would marry her and I said 'no' of course, then… she started crying," Harry said defensively, glaring at the still bawling Pansy, tears flowing down her cheeks and making quite a puddle on the floor. Hermione wondered if Pansy's tear ducts were attached to the Niagara Falls.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for somehow managing to tell a lie," Professor Snape declared.

"But I did-"

Snape cut off Harry before the boy could finish, "But of course you did, you stupid boy. Another ten points from Gryffindor for insulting the grrrreat Proffessor Snape."

Ignoring Harry who was giving the professor a very odd look (Snape didn't have to put so much emphasis on his 'r's after all), Snape stuck his hooked nose into the air, feeling very proud of himself. Poor Harry nearly fell off his chair when he saw what was in Professor Snape's nostrils. Though Harry had managed to keep his seat, everyone could see a distinct tinge of green in his complexion.

Draco passed some of the potion to Hermione who downed it with a great deal of nervousness, though she was two hundred percent she'd got everything right, and asked, "Do you think Pansy would ever stop acting and leave me alone?"

Hermione's answer was a straight, "No."

"Bah. I thought so," Draco groaned.

Draco sighed with great anguish and banged his head against the table several times, mumbling things audible only to himself. Hermione was glad, for she would like to have kept her clean. Instead, she watched the hulking Millicent Bullstrode shove some of the potion into poor, timid Neville who drank it after much choking and sputtering. After all, Millicent stuck the utensil in so hard, Hermione was quite surprised that the head of it hadn't penetrated the back of Neville's throat.

Before Millicent could even ask a question, Neville suddenly turned a shocking shade of pink and started hiccupping. Everytime he hiccupped, a large, equally shocking pink bubble floated out of his mouth. Everybody blinked, staring at poor, pink Neville.

Professor Snape walked up to them and said, "Miss Bullstrode, would you be so kind as to take Longbottom to the hospital wing? Thank you. Five points from Gryffindor for turning pink and messing up the potion."

Numerous pairs of enraged eyes levelled on Snape, trying to bore holes through his black being. The professor, knowing full well that the Gryffindors were past the stage of unhappy and seething mad, resisted the urge to clap and jump with glee. Instead, he opted for a cruel smirk and giving the Gryffindors, knowing full well they could not, and would not, do anything or have even more points deducted. The dirty, low-down Professor Snape returned to his position in the front of the class.

"Now that I feel much better, all of you are dismissed."

On the way out of the classroom, Seamus was swearing so badly that Hermione had clap a hand over his mouth and scold in a very Professor McGonagall tone of voice, "Seamus Finnigan! That's quite enough!"

"What?" the Irish boy protested, looking bewildered. "The stupid git did+ deduct a gazillion points from Gryffindor, so being the loyal person that I am, I think I deserve to curse the ponce a bit!"

Hermione sighed, immediately giving up on him and walking briskly out of the dungeons. To her dismay however, Ron caught up with her and proceeded to keep pace with her, bounding beside her like a jubilant little puppy.

"Hey Hermione, would you like to have lunch with me?"

"Having lunch with you would be the equivalent of a date. And a date is between two people, in a place of relative quiet and privacy. And I'm afraid that's not at all possible in Hogwarts."

"But-"

Then amongst all things that could have happened, Harry appeared. Perfect. A cherry to go on top of everything.

Having overheard (or eavesdropped, more like) the conversation between Hermione and Ron and not wanting to be out-done by his 'rival', also known as ex-friend Ron Weasley, he said, "No, go with me! I'll be a much better date than cherry-face over here."

"No, I'll be the better one!"

"No, me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"Shut up chicken!"

"Sissy boy!"

"Feather brain!"

Ron raised his fist and hit Harry hard squarely in jaw. In the process, in some way only Ronald Weasley could have managed, he knocked Hermione down. Actually, his elbow made contact with her cheek and Hermione reeled from the surprise and sharp pain that came with it. She landed on the floor with a hard thud, her books dropping in a heap beside her.

"Not again…" Hermione groaned, mortified and flushing to the very roots of her hair.

Merlin… Those two cretins probably thought their attention and fighting over her was flattering, but it sure as hell wasn't! In fact, it was downright embarrassing, not to mention unfortunate things kept happening to her because of it. Someone rushed to her side and grasped her arm, pulling her up.

"Thanks..." Hermione mumbled, still feeling embarrassed.

When she looked up to see who had come so gallantly to help her off of the floor, her insides froze over. It wasn't Harry or Ron. Oh no, they were both too busy in their fistfight, a fight that had attracted quite a crowd. No, Hermione found herself staring into icy grey depths… Eyes only one person to the best of knowledge had. Draco Malfoy. Whatever else she had wanted to say suddenly lodged itself in her throat, and Hermione felt her mouth go dry. She certainly didn't expect him+ of all people to help her. Hermione could feel her blush darkening and she swiftly broke the eye contact before hurriedly scrambling for her books. Without a word, Malfoy helped in the gathering of her things and handed them over.

"Do be more careful, Granger," Malfoy drawled. "Some people might not be as kind-hearted as me and help you up. Might just leave you on the floor… Like those two," He added, jerking his head in the general direction of Harry and Ron, both of whom were still engaged in battle and were being shamelessly egged on by the students. "You might also want to consider replacing them. I certainly wouldn't want friends around me who constantly poke my eyeballs."

"But they'd certainly make better friends than the likes of you," Hermione managed to shoot back before bidding a hasty retreat to her next class, wherever that was. Hermione's mind was in too much of a whirl to remember. Who could blame her? Draco friggin' Malfoy+ had helped+ her! A Gryffindor! Perhaps he coshed his head on the way to Potions, Hermione thought. It seemed to be the only plausible explanation for his most bizarre and out of character gesture. Yes, that was it. He had merely knocked his head very hard.

Ron hadn't realised that his elbow had made contact with Hermione's face. In fact, the two wizards didn't break off from their fight until they'd found that Hermione, and everybody else for that matter, was nowhere in sight. They were both quite late for their next class. Without a word to eachother, they went their separate ways once more. Harry, sporting a blackened eye and swollen lip, picked up a tooth of his that Ron had manage to knock out, before walking off hospital wing to get his mouth fixed. Ron, after gathering his things, hurried to his next class as fast as his injured leg would allow.

During lunch, the Great Hall was abuzz with excited whispering. Nearly every conversation being held was about what had happened in the dungeons after potions. Harry and Ron, who were probably Hogwart's tightest of best friends, breaking into a fight over no good reason. Hermione heard all this, saying nothing as she ate her lunch. She was just grateful that everybody was too busy goading on Harry and Ron to notice Malfoy help her to her feet. A shudder went through her as she imagined what it would be like should anyone have caught sight of them. The talk it would create… A Slytherin helping a Gryffinfor... Very odd indeed. It would probably be the equivalent of a scandal.

Sitting at the Slytherin table, a certain blond hair wizard was watching Hermione eat, a very small smile lifting the corner of his mouth.

Bah, the ending was terrible but I had no idea on how to end off ; But yes, there was my introduction of Draco Malfoy into the story. I seriously hope I haven't made him go /too/ out of character, but I'm trying to hold them true to their personalities as much as possible.

I seriously hope I haven't put you peeps off.

And thanks for all the lovely, lovely reviews (:


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters

Dinner in the Great Hall was a noisy, but pleasant, affair, as usual. Utensils clanking, goblets dropping, students chattering… Everything just came together to form an almost unbearable din. But a certain student from Gryffindor found dinner far from pleasant. Hermione Granger half-heartedly poked at her sausage, her chin propped on her palm. Her arm wavered a bit, causing her chin to slip from her palm and bump painfully on the table. She swore colorfully, earning some incredulous stares from the students sitting around her. Hermione Granger? Swearing? Goodness, the world was going to end! No, the world's not ending but Hermione's sanity sure was.

The poor girl spent the last few days running over the castle, playing some crooked version of cat-and-mouse with Harry and Ron. Hermione, in her highly desperate attempt to avoid bumping into the Dreaded Duo, had been reduced to creeping about like some thief and peering around corners to make sure the coast was clear. The rule was, stop, look, continue creeping. It was downright humiliating. Not to mention bothersome and tiring. Goodness, was it tiring. In addition to Hermione's almost complete loss of sanity, she was tired from prowling about and very sleepy from camping out in the library. She honestly brought the phrase 'dead tired' to a whole new level.

But Lady Luck I finally /I decided to shine down on pitiful Hermione. Harry and Ron had not come down to the Great Hall for dinner, for if they had, Hermione was sure that they would have done their utmost to make their presence known to her. And for that small break allowed to her, Hermione was grateful. She didn't think she could take much more of this whole Tom and Jerry thing without dying and she was sure that if she didn't die from insanity, then she would surely die from starvation because this whole affair was ruining her appetite.

Hermione sighed and threw down her fork in defeat, pushing her plate away from her and standing up.

"Camping out in the library again?" Ginny asked, turning away from the conversation to look at her friend.

Boy, was her friend a sight. Hermione suddenly bore a great resemblance to a panda. She had dark smudges under eyes and her hair had deflated, laying about her in one messy lump. Ginny clucked her tongue in sympathy while the anger she felt towards Harry and Ron flared once more. One of these days, she was going to relish tying them to a stake and burning them alive, then feeding their remains to their owls. Oh yes, she was most certainly going to enjoy that very much, the stupid idiots.

"Nah… I'm going straight to bed," Hermione said through a yawn.

Ginny watched her friend stumble over the bench and drag herself to the entrance of the Great Hall, tripping once along the way. She really must be tired to risk going to the dormitory so early. How the great hath fallen, Ginny thought with a sigh of her own.

Hermione managed to make it to the Gryffindor common room after tripping twice more, crashing into a wall and getting lost. Coming to the portrait of the Fat Lady, Hermione could barely remember the password. She was so tired.

"Careful, dear," the Fat Lady said, upon hearing the girl fall again and swear loudly.

The common was blessedly quiet and empty, with the fire crackling merrily in the fireplace, a sharp contrast to Hermione's mood. Hermione paused at the foot of the stairs that lead to the dormitories to pull herself together. Her head was starting to spin, and the bruises littering her body weren't helping one bit. Reaching out, she put one hand against the railing and looked up the length of the stairs, preparing to climb. Merlin, there were so many stairs to climb… Hermione dimly wondered what would happen should she suddenly fall and roll down all those steps. Well, if she slipped into a coma, at least she'd have some peace for a while.

She was about to climb the first step, one out of a million, when Hermione suddenly felt something wet drop onto her hair and slip down the side of her face. Her mind stopped whirling abruptly and came alert. Warily, she wiped it from her face and looked at the slick substance that came away onto her hand. Another felt on her head. She looked up. Dun dun dun duuuuun… And immediately regretted it. Ron was leaning over the railing, his mouth hanging open for some reason, gazing at her. Right next to him was Harry, of course.

" I Oh, MERLIN /I !" Hermione yelled, all her frustration coming together in one deadly volcanic eruption. "Are you bloody /I DROOLING /I on me? That's just great you know! The eff-ing cherry on top of a I lovely /I week! Note sarcasm! I'm tired and every other adjective with the same meaning as 'weary' and I come here, about to get to bed when I get I DROOLED /I on! That's the last straw! Do you hear me? I THE LAST STRAW /I !"

Hermione finished her little monologue, breathing heavily and frothing a little at the mouth. She glared up at the two of them, practically breathing fire. She noted with great satisfaction that Ron had shut his mouth.

"Er… That was er…"

Ron's face screwed up as he tried to think of plausible reason that would get him over the fire safely. One wrong move and BOOM! There goes Ronald Weasley.

"That was an anti-Snape tactic! Yeah! You know, to keep that slimy git at bay."

"Right…" Hermione said dubiously.

Anti-Snape tactic, her foot! But hold on, there's always a silver lining to every dark cloud right? Well, Hermione believed that she had found it.

"Right. Lets try it out then. During potions, the day after tomorrow."

With that, Hermione gaily skipped up the million steps and into the girls' dormitory. She not only skipped, she I floated /I her way to her bed. Hermione smiled to herself. Ron looked mightily worried at the prospect of trying out his anti-Snape on said professor back there. He looked ready to pee in his pants. Good, let him worry. With luck, he might choose to drown himself in the Black Lake instead of facing his doom with the Head of Slytherin.

Over the course of the next day and into the day after, word of the dare had spread far and wide. Harry was spotted walking about with a great smirk glued to his face, his green eyes gleaming with unholy glee, which led people to believe that it was he who spread the news. Bets, manned and kept track of by Ginny Weasley, had been made on whether Ron would see the dare through or chicken out. Odds were currently 1:50, against Ron's favor, and the number of bets just continued to rise. Bets weren't the only thing that was rising. So was the level of Ron's fear and worry. So far, his nonexistent head hadn't been able to find an excuse that would get him out of the dare. No surprises there. In contrast, Hermione's level of happiness was steadily going up. Overnight, Hermione had shed her panda look and was back to normal, and perhaps even better. It didn't take a high perceptive person to notice that Hermione's eyes had their old sparkle, that her hair had become as bushy as ever and that she walked with a very distinctive bounce. Hell, some people even caught her humming some muggle tune, swinging her arms gaily. Others expected her to start throwing confetti. In short, Hermione was over the moon. Not even the fact that her once best friend, also known as Ron Weasley, would probably be no more after potions put a damper on her mood. In fact, the day could have hardly gone any slower for Hermione. All her patience seemed to have been used up during those trying days of playing hide-and-seek with Ron and Harry and Hermione found herself highly impatient, willing the day to go faster so that potions class would be sooner. No price was too big to pay to see Ron try out his anti-Snape tactic on the potions master, not even seeing said 'master's' ugly face.

The entire of Gryffindor and Slytherin shared her eagerness. Down in the dark, dank depths of the Slytherin dungeons, the air was thick with anticipation. Everyone was silent and deep in thought. Some thought about their hair, how hot Draco Malfoy looked as he lounged against a pillar, others about their bets and whether they would win, and one (namely Ron) pondered about his doom. At last, professor Snape swept dramatically into the students' midst. Everyone held their breath, clearly expecting Ron to start drooling on the teacher. However, they were severely disappointed for Ron's mouth remained closed. Everyone filed into the classroom, automatically heading for their respective tables. They'd been paired off again, a few days ago, and were instructed (ordered, was more the word) to work on Growth Spurt potions and these were simmered over the course of yesterday before they were to finish them up today.

"Roots, please," Draco said while reaching for his cutting knife.

Hermione gave him the mandrake roots before returning to stirring the potion, occasionally glancing at the open textbook beside her. As with other potions, the process was highly delicate. One little slipup and the consequences for the consumer would be too terrible to even contemplate. The textbook wasn't the only thing Hermione kept glancing at. Her eyes kept darting over to Ron, whose own eyes were kept downcast, away from the image of the potions master prowling around the cauldrons and checking on the state of the potions. He loomed over Hermione, sniffed with disdain, and carried on. Hermione stuck out her tongue at his retreating back before turning her focus back to her potion.

"I see the weasel's a bit on the pale side today. Guess I'll be winning my bet after all…" Draco remarked with a smirk, deftly chopping away at the roots.

"Not as pale as you, you bleached git," Hermione tossed back easily, not even missing a beat.

In truth, any insults dealt between the two these days were not so much in anger, but out of habit. It seemed to Hermione that while they had been working with each other for all those days, they'd crossed the line they'd drawn for each other and made the beginnings of a friendship (albeit a sometimes awkward one). At first, it irked Hermione and she spent some time freaking out about it. But then she realized that if she looked past the fact that a Gryffindor and Slytherin being friends was extremely ludicrous, it didn't really bother her. Not much. Sure, he's still a git, but he wasn't so much a git to her these days. And with the whole Ron and Harry business, Hermione was a bit starved for some company. Lavander and Parvati were out of the question. All that talk about boys and make-up never failed to drive her through the castle ceiling. Neville was always in the gardens, planting Merlin-knows-what and Seamus and Ginny were dating. In short, Hermione was quite alone so she found it quite comforting that Draco decided to take that milli-step to become a friend of hers, no matter how evil and stuck-up he could be.

"Granger, look," Draco said suddenly, hand freezing in mid-chop as he angled his chin at Ron.

The boy in question seemed to have decided that he didn't want to be labeled a 'chicken' at the end of the lesson and snapped under all the pressure the many pairs of eyes around the room were putting onto him. It was like volumes and volumes of water banking against a wall till the obstruction burst. And Ron burst. He threw down his wand with which he was stirring his potion with and hitched up his pants. Then he proceeded to take in several deep breaths with which to fortify himself with for the up coming task. He then locked his eyes on his target, Snape. The professor in question noticed the eyes of his students suddenly serving in his direction and he was highly confused. He whirled around, only to see Ron Weasley making his way towards him in a purposeful fashion. The potions master suddenly felt inexplicably afraid and began to back away, step by step. He turned tail and started to run when Ron launched his first spit bomb on Snape. He then began a cat-and-mouse game with Snape, Ron being the cat.

"MERLIN HELP THIS BOY!" Snape yelled, running about and dodging cauldrons as he attempted to escape from Ron who was repeatedly spitting on him.

Hermione could only watch in a mixture of amusement and horror as her ex-best friend chased the potions master about the classroom.

In the back of her mind, some tiny voice said, "That's not right. He's supposed to I drool /I on him, not spit him to death."

But Hermione still had to give Ron credit for his guts, no matter what he did. After all, not everyone would go about and spit on Severus Snape. Around her, people began to laugh. It began with a few hesitant coughs before rising into a crescendo, the guffaws and laughter rocking the very walls of the chambers. Some people laughed so hard that they were rolling about on the floors, clutching their stomachs. Snape tripped over a student and was in the process of getting up when he stopped.

"Wait, why am I even running? I could just blast his nonexistent brains out!"

That said, he stood up and whipped out his wand just as Ron reached him and jabbed his wand at him, yelling "Expelliarmus!" at the top of his lungs. Unfortunately for Snape, he had jabbed the wand too hard into Ron's chest that it actually cracked. His ugly face registered utter shock.

"Mommy," Snape cried.

"Hah!" Ron said triumphantly.

There was a BOOM as Snape was thrown backwards. He rose in a sharp arc before falling back down. Down, down he went and landed, of all places, in the cauldron Hermione had been stirring. Potion splashed out of the cauldron in blue waves as Snape fell in with an "Oof!". If it wasn't for Draco who had made a grab for Hermione, she wouldn't have escaped with only a little of the potion splashing onto her. Together, they fell to the floor. Draco landed heavily on top of her, cutting knife still in hand. She gulped, though whether it was because of the knife which was perilously close to stabbing her face, or because Draco was so close, she wasn't too sure. I Oh, Merlin… /I Hermione thought. But her discomfort didn't last long because Draco wasted no time getting to his feet. He didn't apologise, but instead held out a hand to help her up, which she gladly accepted. Beside them, Snape was thrashing about wildly in the cauldron. He was stuck. Because of the amount of potion he landed in, Snape immediately began a growth spurt. But due to the reason that the potion had never been brewed properly, Snape went through a 'growth explosion', instead of a mere 'spurt'. As a result, he was lodged, backside first, in the cauldron. The laughter from students steadily rose again. Hermione too laughed, till it was her turn to grow. She didn't grow much, but it was enough to warrant a visit to Madame Pomfrey. Hell, she was even taller than Ron who was currently fighting with Harry over the matter of who was to save Hermione and bring her to the hospital wing.

"I'll do it!"

"No, I I'll /I do it!"

"Get lost, four eyes!"

"Tomato face!"

Predictably, they got into a fight. Draco sighed beside her, watching as everyone forgot to laugh at Snape (who was still screaming and struggling to get out of the cauldron) and gathered around the fighting boys, cheering them on.

"Come on, Granger…" Draco drawled in a bored voice, already heading for the door and clearly expecting Hermione to follow.

And Hermione did, with some surprise. The walk to the hospital wing was relatively silent, with Hermione glancing down at Draco (and found the sensation weird for she was so used to looking up at him) occationally, to assure herself that it really was him walking beside her as if everything were normal and that some seven foot girl was beside him. Hermione half expected him to just vanish and reappear as Harry or Ron, after all, she certainly hadn't expected Draco to be the one who saw her to the hospital wing.

"Careful of your big head, Granger," Draco warned, smirking.

Hermione was about to shoot back some smart-assed remark but realized that his warning was quite justified (no matter how insulting it sounded). She was indeed, in danger of bumping her head in the doorway.

"Oh dear! What happened?" Madame Pomfrey asked, hurrying to Hermione who had made it through the doorway without a bump on the head.

"An accident with a Growth Spurt potion," Draco calmly said to the near hysterical witch.

"Oh dear, oh dear…" She said, hurrying to her cupboard of supplies.

In the mean time, Draco propelled Hermione to one of the beds. The bed squealed and groaned in protest at the weight of Hermione.

"Merlin, I hope it doesn't give way…" Hermione mumbled, watching Draco who was sprawled on a chair beside her.

"Fear not, dear, for Madame Pomfrey is here!" Madame Pomfrey proclaimed in a singsong voice, producing a vial with a flourish. "Drink the whole vial, dear. It'll take a while till you shrink back to normal size."

Hermione drank the entire vial obediently. Over the course of a full hour, Hermione shrank little by little. It was a highly slow process but a most unlikely candidate saved Hermione from boredom. Draco Malfoy. He'd patiently waited out the shrinking process, exchanging insults with her to pass their time. As Hermione stood, she was again struck by how odd their friendship was and that Draco actually did something nice for someone else. He must have realized that for he suddenly grabbed her hand and started to drag her to the door, yelling out his thanks to Madame Pomfrey ("Thanks, Pompoms!").

As the two were walking along the corridors, they saw Snape waddling along to the hospital wing, bum still stuck in the cauldron. The only reason he was able to even I move /I was because Crabbe and Goyle were supporting the cauldron which was stuck to his backside. It was such a hilarious sight that Hermione and Draco just doubled over with laughter. In a rare streak of naughtiness, Hermione conjured a magical camera and took a photograph of the waddling Snape, stuck in a cauldron. Camera in hand, she grabbed Draco, making a break for it as Snape yelled loudly, "TWO HUNDRED POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR!"

I'm so sorry that it took so long for me to get another chapter written but I didn't really know how to continue the story, and I'm afraid that this chapter was a bit of a drag.

Nevertheless, please do review and let me know what you think (:


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